Nine Mile Canyon

Oops. Shall we just ignore the fact that it’s been almost a year since my last post and move on? 😳🙈

Over the long weekend we took the kids on a last-minute trip to Nine Mile Canyon, UT. Nine Mile Canyon has one of the highest concentrations of rock art around and it’s only about 2.5 hours away from us. It was a great time.

I had read about Nine Mile Canyon while looking up rock art in Utah. We’ve seen petroglyphs (carved rock art) at different places around Utah and I think they’re fascinating. There’s something moving about seeing art that another person made over 1,000 years and that has endured the blazing sun and rain storms since.

In front of “The Great Hunt” which is one of the most famous petroglyph panels. It was a little surreal to be able to hop out of the car and take in this treasure all on our own.Mimi and “The Great Buffalo” panel.E in the entrance of a cave possibly used by the Fremont people for storage.N and E by Balance Rock

Recently Mimi saved up her money to buy herself a camera and she put it to good use on this trip.I cranked up the contrast on this pic to show more detail.There are old ranch buildings scattered throughout the canyon.It’s amazing that you can just walk right up to this fantastic art. Sadly, some of them have been vandalized which is really frustrating. This is why we can’t have nice things, people.E reading a brochure about the canyon at the ranch.

It was a great trip and one I highly recommend. The drive only took us 2.5 hours. We drove down Sunday night and slept over at Nine Mile Ranch which is located right outside the canyon. The ranch’s location can’t be beat and it’s nice to be able to head straight into the canyon in the morning instead of immediately after the drive down.

We stayed in the bunk and breakfast in the “Family Room” which had a queen and bunk beds for the kids. The guest rooms were in the basement and our room was pretty stuffy/musty and our dust allergies flared up. Mimi got so congested and coughed so much in her sleep that she threw up which was difficult to deal with.

Mimi was fine once she got out of the basement and Monday morning the gracious family who run the ranch served us a delicious breakfast.

If we stayed there again I would book one of their cabins rather than the bunkhouse. If you’re a camper they have sites which are only $15. Or you can stay at the Super 8 in Wellington which is about 40 minutes from the canyon which is honestly what we should have done in hindsight.

If you go be sure to have a full tank of gas and plenty of water and food–there are no services or cell reception. This map and going by the mile markers was helpful in finding the rock art. We hardly saw anyone else while we were there–it was a real treat to have the whole place to ourselves. Nine Mile Canyon is an overlooked gem.